At 66-storeys, YC Condos will make a major splash in many ways on the Toronto’s skyline.

That’s because the striking project at Yonge and Grenville Sts. is incorporating a 60-foot-long, infinity-edge pool on the top floor. It will feature a three-sided sweeping view of the city to the south, and the waterfront.

Developer Canderel Residential Inc.’s Riz Dhanji, vice-president of sales and marketing, says the pool will be set “among the most expensive real estate in Toronto.

“That floor is premium space, where penthouses at $1,000-a-square-foot and up would go,” he grins. “At close to 5,000 square feet, that’s nearly $5 million of real estate.”

Pushing the pool to the 66th floor will take a bite out of revenues but it will also help drive sales, Dhanji says, because there is literally nothing like it on the market.

“We looked at luxury hotels in Singapore and Hong Kong where they have done this and we wanted to give our buyers a taste of that luxury,” he said. “We wanted to set it apart from anything else in Toronto, in Canada and even the U.S and came up with this idea of the infinity-edge pool which goes right up to the edge of the glazing with a south view that will be an incredible experience.”

Designed by Burdifilek International Interior Design, the pool came with its own challenges. It took about six months to get the engineering and design figured out, and creative partner Diego Burdi thought long and hard about the choice of materials and colour.

“They really wanted everyone in the condo to be able to live the dream and share the view instead of just reserving it for the penthouse purchasers,” said Burdi. “And they gave us this amazing 5,000-square-foot floor plan to play with.”

YC Condos pre-sales office will open in late spring and condo units will include studio, one bedroom, one bed plus den, two bedrooms, two plus den, three bedrooms, live/work lofts and penthouses. They are expected to start in the mid $200,000 with a majority of suites under $500,000 — prices will increase with space and higher floor levels. Tower suites will range from 350 to 900 square feet, with penthouses on floors 59 to 63 at just over 1,000 to 1,500 square feet priced at $1 million to $1.5 million. The 65th floor is mechanical and the underside of the pool.

YC stands for Yonge and College Sts., the major intersection and, while visually unique in its own right, it’s the Aqua66 pool with its wrap-around glass walls that will turn heads. The infinity edge will make it appear that water is running off, and down, the side of the building. There are also steam rooms, change rooms and a lounge area.

Two floors down, Lounge64 will encompass 3,715-square-feet with bar, fireplace, billiards table, and a dining room and catering kitchen, all with similar southern views of the lake and the city.

On the seventh floor, there will also be a 3,390-square-foot outdoor terrace, two private dining rooms each with outdoor terrace and built-in barbecue areas for dining al fresco on the seventh floor beside the upscale gym and yoga studio which will open to the outdoors. In all, YC Condos will offer nearly 10,000 square feet of common amenity space beyond the top-floor pool.

It was the Singapore Marina Bay Sands 58th floor outdoor rooftop infinity pool which lent much of the inspiration for the YC pool — though the climate there is more forgiving.

At first, said Burdi, there was a discussion about installing a lap pool. But that idea fell to a multi-purpose pool where sitting back and soaking in the view can be a big part of the experience.

“From sunrise to sunset you get this changing view that is really a piece of art,” Burdi said, adding it will change with night to day and seasonally. “We really wanted to create this urban oasis quintessential to this type of living.”

The walls, floor and lounging platform will be made from cross-cut limestone and the back walls are lined with green “diachronic” tiles, he said.

“They have fins and 20 different shades of green which give a 3-D reflection that catches and reflects the light differently as the day goes on,” he said. “There’s also some brushed bronze, lounge chairs in solid teak and linen finishes and everything is indirectly light so it is very soft and quite sexy.”

The pool water seems to come right up to the glass for the infinity edge effect but Burdi said it’s a bit of trompe d’oeil because there’s a ledge just below the water’s surface where bathers can rest their elbows and gaze out over a view that reaches down to the lake and Toronto Islands, with the CN Tower and Financial District’s bank towers off to the west side. The water never actually touches the glazing, he added, though it appears seamless.

Moving an amenity like a pool up to a premium space is just the kind of thinking which makes Mark Stables, CEO of Movement Haus, smile.

His company designs, installs and operates upscale fitness centres in condos and has some 60 buildings under contract in Toronto and Miami.

“Gyms used to be in the back, overlooking the dumpster,” Stables said. “Pools are much more of a lifestyle thing. They’re not usually meant for swimming as much as, ‘Come up to my rooftop and see the pool.’ It’s much more social.”

Burdi agrees. “Canderel are definitely visionaries and very brave in their thinking,” he said, noting owners will be bringing all their guests up to see view and perhaps share a dip. “It really will be a shared experience that will transport you to another world and a nice form of escapism to enjoy a city like this.”

YC CONDOS

Builder: Canderel Residential

Units: Studio, one bedroom, one bed plus den, two bedrooms, two plus den, three bedrooms, live/work lofts and penthouses

Prices: Mid-$200,000 to $1.5 million. Majority of units are projected to be under $500,000.

More info: Sales office is expected to open late spring 2014; yccondos.com

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